Despite not playing in the fourth quarter, Deng scored 14 points to tie Aaron Gray and Darius Washington for team-high honors. The Bulls committed 24 turnovers.

"I wasn't particularly pleased with our mental mistakes in the first half," Del Negro said. "We have guys who aren't familiar with the game plan or new offense or new terminology yet. But I thought we competed better in the second half."

Del Negro has paired Rose and Hinrich in the backcourt since the start of training camp and, for the first time, revealed his reasoning.

"Kirk has a really good feel and can guard both positions," Del Negro said.

"He's a veteran guy, which helps Derrick. He has been really helpful working with Derrick in practice, which has been great.

"It takes some pressure off his ballhandling, too, so he can float and Derrick finds him and he gets easier baskets at times. Kirk feels real good in that role. He has not only played well, he has been a leader."

Rose received the loudest ovation during player introductions then immediately found himself matched against Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd.